The sky gradually brightened. The group of pirates walked for about a kilometer before they saw a small hill on the left side of the estuary. A campsite had been built. The campsite was not big, and they could see that it was surrounded by wooden fences. There were also some rubble piled up on top of it. The height of the campsite was only about two meters.
This part of the estuary was the narrowest. The width of the river was only about seven to eight meters. A boat could barely fit through it, but its speed was not fast. Anyone who passed by would be caught in the attack range.
One of the pirates understood what was going on and remembered what their second leader had said. He then shouted, "Brothers, this is our home. It has been occupied by these soldiers. Kill them!"
"Kill them!" The group of pirates thought of their home and shouted as they charged forward.
Seeing the pirates getting closer and closer, Pei Zi Yun shouted, "Archers, get ready!"
Immediately, thirty archers were ready.
"Fifty steps!"
"Thirty steps!"
"Ten steps!"
After charging for ten steps, they could see the ferocious faces of the enemy. Pei Zi Yun then shouted, "Fire!"
"Xiu xiu xiu!" Immediately after, a sharp whistling sound could be heard as arrows rained down on the pirates. Blood splattered everywhere as the seven to eight pirates in front of them fell to the ground.
Seeing this, some of the pirates were filled with fear as they hesitated. The pirate then shouted, "Do not be afraid. Think of your treasures, think of your family!"
"Kill them! Charge forward and kill the soldiers!"
The pirates shouted as they continued to charge forward.
"Shoot again!"
"Xiu xiu xiu!"
Another seven to eight pirates were shot and fell to the ground. The pirate reacted quickly and was shocked. He lowered his head as an arrow flew past him.
The pirate was so scared that he broke out in cold sweat. He waved his sword and deflected the arrow. However, the force of the arrow caused his body to sway as he lost his balance. He then revealed an opening.
"Xiu!"
The pirate's shoulder spewed out a mist of blood as he fell to the ground. However, he was extremely strong as he turned around and fled.
"The captain has escaped! The captain has escaped!" Seeing this, the rest of the pirates turned around and fled.
"Three shots!"
"Xiu xiu xiu!" Another five to six pirates fell to the ground as they were shot in the back.
"Go out and finish them off!" Pei Zi Yun gave it a try and was very satisfied. After giving the order, a group of men walked out and stabbed the ground. A sickening sound could be heard as a red liquid flowed out of the ground.
At this point, Chen Pu came up and saw that more than ten people had been killed in the blink of an eye. Not a single one of his own had been lost. He then sighed and said, "It's a pity that this camp is too simple. If not, the results would be even better …"
Pei Zi Yun shook his head, "I did it on purpose. If the camp had been built into a stronghold, and the enemy wasn't an idiot, they wouldn't have barged into us."
"Only now the camp is built in a simple way, it seems that we can spend some lives to attack it, so we can attract pirates to make a desperate attempt."
"As for the bandit leader just now, I purposely ordered him to shoot only at the shoulder. I asked him to go back and guarantee that we would be able to take down the stronghold and lure the enemy here. I told him to do his best to deplete the enemy's strength here. Otherwise, if more than a thousand people escaped, even if they were a disorderly mob, it would still be a disaster!"
He then instructed, "After a while, wake everyone up. A portion of you, go and prepare the fleet. Once the enemy suffers heavy losses, send the warships out of the stronghold. Just like before, the pirates are to be attacked by us, but the warships will not be attacked."
"Yes!" Someone immediately relayed the order.
Although entering and exiting the stronghold seemed to be unnecessary, it was actually part of the essence of the art of war. It was effective in moving the enemy to a specific position, and at the same time creating opportunities to annihilate them.
Chen Pu listened to the order and pondered for some time before he understood. At this point, the way he looked at Pei Zi Yun was different.
"What if the enemy doesn't fall for the trap?"
"If they don't fall for the trap, didn't we say before that the enemy has no food or water? They will disperse after a few days. It's just that it's more troublesome to clean up the mess. We still have to surround and annihilate the rest of them."
"If they fall for the trap, we can annihilate them in one go."
When Chen Pu heard this, he nodded his head and said, "It's a pity that this place is too peaceful. If there were a dangerous place to ambush us, that would be even better."
"Your excellency Chen, you're a scholar." Before Pei Zi Yun could speak, Cai Yuan Zhen's voice rang out from behind. His eyes were bloodshot, and it was obvious that he hadn't slept the entire night. He then reported, "Your excellency, I've already supervised the fleet. Once the time is right, give us the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn, and we'll be able to set sail."
As he finished speaking, he turned around and spoke to Chen Pu, "Scholars like to take risks, set up ambushes, and launch sneak attacks. But think about it, this island is so small, and the pirates have been living here for so many years. I'm afraid they know everything about this island. How can an ambush be hidden from them?"
"Only by setting up a camp along this path will we be able to fight a tough battle."
"When the Emperor was conquering the world, I followed Zhao Guo Duke to battle. I was just as fast, ruthless, and accurate. It was a smooth battle."
"If I were to be commanded by a scholar, even if several times the number of people died, I would still be exhausted."
"Soldiers aren't afraid of strong enemies. What they're most afraid of is being commanded like this." Cai Yuan Zhen had a long face, and his eyes were sunken in, making him look rather stern. He didn't usually have any expressions on his face, and yet he sighed, "Soldiers have long given up their lives. But to die for nothing, that's the most depressing thing."
Chen Pu wasn't angry, "I'm a scholar, I can't command them blindly!"
As he finished speaking, he smiled. However, his heart turned cold. Cai Yuan Zhen and Pei Zi Yun had only known each other for a few days, and yet he was already convinced by him. This wasn't just because Pei Zi Yun was generous, and was willing to split tens of thousands of taels of silver.
It was also because of Pei Zi Yun's command. The moment he understood the intricacies of his command, he felt an indescribable sense of satisfaction. Soldiers were very sensitive to this, and the reason was simple. Commanding meant that they could survive and achieve victory.
On the contrary, commanding was a mess, and was full of mistakes. Even if they were rewarded, how could it be more important than their own lives?
Soldiers were trained to fight and kill, but they weren't made of wood, and didn't have hearts of stone. They would instinctively follow someone who could bring them a path of survival and victory.
"Ai, only now do I know how loyal a general is to his soldiers. It's no wonder the Imperial Court and the Governor are so suspicious of those generals who are truly talented."
"Since the founding of the country, there have been few generals who have good endings."
"If it's a civil official, even if he's talented, the court is not a battlefield. If he isn't constantly on the brink of life and death, he wouldn't be able to gather the loyalty of his soldiers. We can rest assured."
"No matter how great his abilities and achievements are, even if he's the Prime Minister, he can be dealt with with easily."
"The Imperial Court trusts civil officials."
This thought made Chen Pu shudder, and was a little rebellious. Chen Pu immediately retracted his thoughts, and turned his gaze to the distance.
"Leader of the bandits, is he coming or not?" Chen Pu mumbled to himself.
Under the rays of the morning sun, Pei Zi Yun had a serene expression on his face. However, his lips were pursed as he stared at the surface of the sea without saying a word.
Chen Pu followed his gaze and saw that on the surface of the sea, fifty boats were gathered together, and the sounds of quarreling could be heard.
"Fifty boats, and a thousand five hundred men. That's more than our initial estimate of a thousand men!"
"The bandits have quite a bit of strength to spare!"
Along the coast.
At this point, the boats were nearing the shore. Voices could be heard coming from the deck.
The bandit reported, "I've seen it clearly. These soldiers have set up camp. Coincidentally, it's at the narrowest point of the estuary. Once our boats enter, we'll be attacked."
"The bandits are really cunning. If we had stayed on the boats, we could have attacked them together. Based on the fact that they've fought three or four battles in a row for a day and a night, how much strength would they have left? We would have defeated them." The third leader, Fang Tong, slapped his thighs as he spoke bitterly.
Fang Ji glared at him angrily before asking, "You've neared the camp. Did you see it clearly? How many men are there?"
"I saw it clearly. Half of them are commoners. The number of men who are fighting doesn't exceed three hundred!" Actually, there were only two hundred and fifty men. However, the bandits couldn't be so precise.
"Second Leader, I think you're trustworthy." At this point, a Daoist stood out. He looked to be in his forties, and his face was skinny and lean. He coughed and said, "Although First Leader only left three hundred men behind, he still has a troop of warriors from the Moon Vassal State, as well as a troop sent by Ji Bei Hou. That's a complete army of fifty men!"
"They also have the terrain advantage. If the enemy wants to win, at least three hundred men will die in battle, and another three hundred will be injured. The remaining three hundred soldiers who can fight are very reasonable."
"Now is the time when the soldiers are at their weakest. In a few days, when the injured soldiers have recovered, they will have another hundred soldiers who can fight. When that happens, it will be difficult to fight them."
He then sighed, "However, the construction of this camp is indeed ingenious. If we were to fight them head-on, we would suffer heavy losses."
After pacing back and forth on the deck, Fang Ji's face fell, "If we don't fight, how can we answer to big brother? How can we answer to the Moon Vassal State? How can we answer to Ji Bei Hou? How can we answer to our dead brothers?"
"I've made up my mind. Even if I have to risk my life, I will take down this camp and kill every single soldier here!"
Before long, the sound of a horn could be heard. All the pirates knew that this was the signal of their leader's determination to fight to the death. At that point, one by one, the pirates started to approach the shore.
"They're here!" Hearing the sound of the horn, Pei Zi Yun stood on a platform and looked down at the beach. He could see groups of pirates marching towards the campsite. Although they weren't in perfect formation, they still had a basic formation. Slowly, they gathered about five hundred meters away from the campsite.
"One thousand five hundred men!"
Seeing that there were a thousand pirates, Pei Zi Yun's expression was calm. Looking closely, he realized that although they weren't in a military formation, they were still organized in groups, emitting a strong killing intent.
In the middle of the group, there was a tall flag with the word "Fang" on it. The flag fluttered in the wind.
"Pirates are the future rulers."
"These words are really apt. The Fang family has been pirates for over ten years, and has already formed some sort of organization. If they were to take a step further, wouldn't they be considered dragons?"
"It's just that now that the Xu Dynasty has conquered the lands, they no longer have the chance to do so."
"Kill!" At this point, the sound of drums could be heard from within the pirates. The pirates shouted out in unison as they charged forward. Just like the soldiers, they had no shields, but were holding up wooden planks.
"Ready!" Pei Zi Yun's heart skipped a beat. There were over a thousand men in the navy, but only fifty of them were archers. After suffering losses and injuries, there were less than thirty of them who could draw their bows.
"Fire!" This time, they couldn't get too close. As soon as the command was given, the bowstrings vibrated. "Xiu xiu!" Countless arrows flew through the air, piercing through the air as they gathered together. In an instant, they reached a high altitude before falling back down.
Due to the weight of the arrows, they accelerated as they fell.
"Raise the wooden planks!" Someone shouted out as the arrows rained down on them.
The sound of arrows hitting the wooden planks rang out incessantly. However, there was a gap between the arrows and the wooden planks. Several groans could be heard as they fell to the ground.
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